Imagine flying low at 100 ft completely exposed hanging out of your helicopter behind your machine gun with 2,000 rounds between your legs scanning for targets with your gun being your only protection you hope not to find yourself in the sights of someone’s AK 51 caliber machine gun or even worse a 23 mm anti-aircraft gun Vietnam helicopter Gunners were in a terrifying combination of almost absolute power and almost absolute vulnerability but they played a crucial and important role that couldn’t be done by just anyone at the beginning
Of the Vietnam war helicopter Crews were made up of a pilot co-pilot and a crew chief who also served as the door gunner however the brutal battles that followed and the large number of downed helicopters quickly showed that additional protection for the aircraft from both sides was urgently needed a fourth crew member was added the so-called Shotgun Rider who would have one of the most terrifying roles in the war literally half hanging out of the helicopter strapped to the fuselage by a monkey strap was terrifying on its own
But having no protection from enemy fire while being a prime target made it even worse if you wondered if they ever fell out of the helicopters yes it happened sometimes they would be left hanging on their strap while the rest of the crew pulled them back up While others were not so lucky these soldiers participated in the most important missions from medical evacuations to direct infantry support and suppressing enemy enemy positions after rigorous and demanding training door Gunners were sent on their combat missions in legendary helicopters
In which they would fight and fly painfully many hours right at the start of training they were introduced to the intercom system how to assist the crew chief when necessary how to use the clock system for pointing out directions and how to fly in formation while protecting other aircraft all while riding in the open doorway of a helicopter the Primary Weapons for door Gunners was the M60 machine gun with the M14 or M16 as backups the M60 could fire between 500650 rounds per minute with an effective range of about 1,300 yards in
This role the M60 was sometimes slightly modified usually mounted on a swivel or pintle Mount or even a bungee cord attached to the helicopter ceiling for better maneuverability besides the M60 m134 minigun were used especially in gunships with a terrifying firing rate of up to 6,000 rounds per minute they usually carried between two and 4,000 rounds depending on the mission and had to manage their ammunition wisely to provide support throughout the mission every fifth round was a tracer which helped the Gunner to see where they were
Hitting especially in low visibility door Gunners could find themselves assigned to either Slicks or gunships slicks like the uh1 huy were were mostly transport helicopters used for moving troops supplies or medical evacuation missions in this role the main job of the door gunner was to provide defensive fire in vulnerable situations such as takeoffs or Landings and they typically used M60 machine guns for this gunships on the other hand were heavily armed helicopters designed for offensive combat where door Gunners worked as part
Of the attack team they provided close air support to ground troops with rockets miniguns or even grenade launch attempts were made to mount the 50 caliber machine gun on helicopters as well but it proved too heavy for this role Gunners were trained to fire machine guns in different positions and at various angles depending on combat needs they coordinated with the pilot who would turn the helicopter to align with the Gunner’s Field of Fire but the main challenge was to fire accurately from a helicopter since it moved at high
Speed at different angles and altitudes with Maneuvers to avoid void enemy fire and with moving targets the Gunners had to compensate in their aiming and use various techniques to put their rounds where they wanted there were also constant vibrations from the helicopter and wind resistance that made stabilizing the gun even more difficult in theory Gunners were trained to fire in short bursts of five to seven rounds pausing to assess the impact before adjusting and firing again but in practice they had to compensate for
inaccuracy with volume of of fire Gunners would usually sweep the area firing in wide arcs to increase the likelihood of hitting an enemy and to keep them suppressed they had to lead their targets meaning they aimed behind or below their targets because the bullets fired from the helicopter would carry the forward momentum of the aircraft therefore they could never aim directly at the Target but had to constantly adjust for various factors now let’s talk about the door Gunner’s protection or better said the lack of it
since helicopters had to be kept as light as possible it was impossible to add heavy bulletproof shields for Gunners as you might see on vehicles and since the helicopter itself wasn’t bulletproof Shields would have had little effect Flack jackets were issued but they could only stop smaller shrapnel at best providing no protection against direct fire and doing little for the Gunner besides making them even more hot and heavy door Gunners had flight helmets which offered some protection but were mainly designed for
communication with a built-in intercom system there were also so-called chicken plates ceramic plates covering the chest area protecting from Small Arms fire but they were heavy and bulky and many crew members chose not to wear them hence the nickname implying only chickens wore them the Gunner serves as the eyes and ears of the crew searching the ground for any movement or signs of enemy activity since the Viet Kong were masters of camouflage spotting enemy positions in the jungle from a fast moving helicopter required IR ired a
trained and experienced eye and when something was spotted it was almost impossible to determine with certainty who they were which led to many instances of Friendly Fire or innocent civilians being killed remember without today’s technology night vision thermals Optics drones Etc they had to decide whether to Open Fire based on something they saw in the jungle from a fast moving helicopter at a great height the enemy did their best to blend in with the local population and environment and many Viet Kong soldiers were actually
children as young as 12 years old used as part of the battle plan when firing on the move it was impossible to know exactly what they were hitting and who was out there in the woods door Gunners would Mark enemy positions with either Tracer rounds or colored smoke grenades and do their best to keep the enemy’s heads down during the mission logically the most critical moment was landing and taking off in enemy territory in the so-called Hot Land ing zones here door Gunners would immediately open Relentless fire trying to provide cover
for the troops they were inserting or extracting this continuous fire also protected the aircraft but it made the door Gunners Prime targets for enemy fire snipers and RPGs although they had to maintain constant fire they also had to manage their ammunition carefully to ensure they had enough for the entire operation incidents in chaotic missions amid the terrifying gunfire and the noise of the helicopter various incidents occurred that no one could have predicted for example one young door gunner after successfully
neutralizing a group they believed to be the enemy saw that one of the enemies was still alive when his helicopter landed to inspect without telling anyone he jumped out of his position because he wanted to help the wounded enemy to his shock when he turned around he realized no one knew he had jumped out and his helicopter was flying away without him he stood there alone for about half an hour in the middle of enemy territory unarmed with the wounded enemy soldier until his crew realized what had happened and returned to pick him up
besides getting yelled at he was lucky many other incidents ended tragically sometimes their straps would snap or not be properly secured or they would forget to attach them and literally fall out of the helicopter during intense Maneuvers another door gunner fell out luckily from a low altitude but he landed directly on top of two Viet Kong soldiers knocking the wind out of everyone due to the fall he quickly recovered took one of their weapons eliminated the two enemies and waited for his crew to pick him up for this
acrobatic move which one no one would have believed happened unless they saw it he received a medal for bravery there were also many situations where severely or mortally wounded door Gunners continued to provide support and protection despite their injuries completely disregarding their own lives and of course there were the frightening medical evacuation missions where they flew directly into a hail of enemy fire to try to save their comrades veterans have described that 90% of their missions were endlessly boring flying
and staring at the uninhabited jungle and the other 10% was extreme fear and a desperate wish to go back to staring at the jungle instead of combat the psychological pressure on door Gunners was enormous and their casualty rate was one of the highest the repetitive nature of flying in and out of combat zones engaging in firefighting and witnessing death on a daily basis led many door Gunners to experience combat fatigue or post-traumatic stress disorder almost all helicopter crew members saw their friends and fellow crew members die in
combat beside them making them some of the most affected Veterans of the Vietnam conflict
